Nutrition Guidelines

The following guidelines will help you ensure you reach your Training goals. As much as 75% of your fitness outcomes result from good nutrition so it essential your Nutrition is optimised in order to achieve the best possible results.

Nutrition

Preparation

Good Nutrition is mostly achieved through good preparation. You should have a Daily Meal Plan and decide what you will eat in advance. Your Meal Plan should be made up of 6-8 smaller meals spread throughout the day covering 6 days of the week.

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Follow your Daily Meal Plan for six days per week. For one day per week, eat what you want in moderation.
Plan your shopping by making a list of things to buy before you go out.

Foods you should avoid

Stay away from Alcohol during your Daily Meal Plan days.
Avoid Soft Drinks including high sugar Fruit juices on your Daily Meal Plan days.
Avoid sugar and foods high in sugar. If you need sweeteners try Stevia, a great natural herbal sweetener available at your Supermarket or Health Food outlet. Splenda can be used in moderation but aim to avoid other artificial sweeteners as they can still interfere with blood sugar levels and may be unsafe.

Note: the only time you should really consume sweets (Simple Carbs) is immediately after training (within 5 minutes).
Avoid frying foods. It is better to bake, steam and boil. Light stir frying is okay using high heat vegetable oils. Save good quality olive, avocado oil for dressings as these do not tolerate high heat.
Generally avoid fatty foods and takeaways
Minimise the use of processed foods

Foods you should consume

Your Daily Meal Plan should consist of healthy Proteins, Carbs, Fruits and Vegetables. To adopt good nutritional habits make sure your cupboards and fridge is stocked with foods from these healthy food groups.

Aim to include essential fatty acids (omega 3, 6, 9) into your daily regime.
Fish Oil is high in Omega-3. The average diet is shown to be too high in omega 6 (vegetable oils) and not high enough in omega 3. Supplement by consuming 2 grams of Fish Oil daily. Fish Oil is available from most Health Food outlets.

Select a Fish Oil product containing a higher level of DHA omega 3 than EPA omega 3. DHA can be converted by the body into EPA when more EPA is needed, but not the other way around. It's very important your fish oil supplements have more DHA than EPA.
Flaxseed Oil is high in omega 3, 6 and 9. This can also be supplemented in capsule form or sprinkled on food as ground linseed, or the mixture LSA (linseed, sunflower seeds, almonds ground). Never cook with flaxseed oil.
Walnuts are an important food source, due to the high content of omega-3 fatty acids.

The walnut is also rich in vitamins B and E; a high content of vitamin B2 (riboflavin) is present in walnuts. Folate and beta carotene are also present in high quantities. Walnut is also a rich source of proteins.
When choosing a carbohydrate option choose mainly low GI (glycemic index) options as they release more slowly into the body giving sustained energy for longer. Most packaged foods now give a GI rating.
Green Tea is rich in catechin anti-oxidants with cancer fighting powers. Drinking 2-3 cups per day can lower blood pressure, cholesterol, and decrease the risk of heart attack. Not only does green tea contain immune boosting anti-oxidants, but it can also protect your teeth and can help reduce and prevent rheumatoid arthritis.

Green Tea increases the body's key fat-burning hormone, norepinephrine, increasing your metabolism and the rate of fatty acid mobilisation.
You can have normal tea and coffee however have it black or use a dash of Trim Milk. Have a maximum of 2-3 cups per day, any more will affect your hydration levels.
Casein Protein should be taken last thing before bed as it is a slow digesting protein that will reduce muscle deterioration. There are different types of Casein Protein. Although Micellar Casein is more expensive, it is entirely a higher quality protein. Being produced without chemicals, micellar casein is in its native form and is of nearly perfect quality.

Micellar casein will either be called "micellar casein" or "milk protein isolate/concentrate." They are exactly the same thing as both are mostly micellar casein with a small amount of whey.
Instead of Casein Protein, a great whole food alternative is Low Fat Cottage Cheese. Cottage Cheese is an excellent protein source that can be taken before bed. The reason for this is that it will provide a slow and steady release of amino acids into your bloodstream while you sleep. This will prevent your body going into a catabolic or muscle wasting state. This is something that you want to avoid because this time is crucial for your recovery and growth that will lead to strength increases.

One cup of cottage cheese contains about 30 grams of high quality protein.

Nutrition whilst Training

The two most important meals during your day are you pre and post training meals.

Pre Workout Nutrition

Depending on your training times eat a meal 1-3 hours before training.

In order to power through your workout, you need a premium source of fuel. That's why it's fundamentally important that you consume a slow to moderate digesting source of carbohydrates. Some recommended low to moderate GI carbohydrate sources are brown rice, oatmeal, whole wheat pasta or a wholemeal bagel.

If you consume an overabundance of carbs or consume them too close to your workout, your body has insufficient time to metabolize the food.

Fruits, such as oranges, make an excellent addition to your pre-workout meal. Now that you have a slower digesting carb source (as outlined above), it is also beneficial to have a small but sufficient source of fast-digesting carbs to kick-start your workout, such as an Orange, Apple or Banana.

During your Workout

Hydration levels are important. Make sure you are fully hydrated prior to training. Ensure you drink water throughout your workout. Bring bottled water to your training sessions and take small sips before and during your training.

Post Workout Nutrition

Following training, within 5 minutes of finishing your workout, take Simple Carbs like Jelly Sweets. This is the only time you should consume Simple Carbs high in glucose. Alternatively, you can take Dextrose or Maltodextrin or a mix of the two. These are both digested at a high rate and will replenish your glycogen stores.
Soon after training, within 30 minutes, take Whey Protein for muscle recovery. Whey Protein digests quickly and therefore acts quickly to provide recovery for your muscles. Depending on your fitness goals, you should prefer Whey Protein Isolate to a Whey Protein Concentrate powder. Whey Protein Concentrate powders contain less protein gram for gram and have a higher fat content.

Another type of Whey Protein is Whey Ion-Exchange Isolate protein. Though the protein content is increased, the ion exchange process results in many of the most important subfractions being lost or greatly reduced therefore you should generally prefer Whey Protein that hasn't gone through the ion exchange process.

Posted: Saturday 24 October 2009